“This is a partying robot with a sock hand, 'cause I gave it a sock hand,” I told Katie.

“Do what you gotta do,” she replied.

I was in the mood to give my robot a sock hand, so a sock hand he had. And yes, a sock hand can make cupcakes.

On the off-chance that that doesn’t immediately make sense, I should probably explain that the robot in question was a creation via Sago Mini’s Robot Party app (Sago Sago, April 2016; iOS only). Let’s call him Ted.

Ted started as just a robot body, chosen from a selection of robot body types. Once I picked him out, I got to choose a face, clothing, and appendages for him. Yes, I could change my mind if the next option that came along was more fun (and who wouldn’t pick a green head with three eyes over a pink head with two?). And yes, when a sock was offered up and I thought it would go nicely on Ted’s hand, the app was fine with that. It even let me give him one magnet foot and one pincer foot.

Once Ted was ready, I had to power him up — which I did by “spinning” a crank until he went from slack-jawed to perky. And then…well, the app is called Robot Party, which meant we had to get ready to party. We had cupcakes to decorate!

Remember Stretch Armstrong, ‘90s kids? Ted’s arms and legs worked in a similar stretchy way. He pulled a lever to operate a conveyor belt full of cupcake options — including hamburgers, pickles, and watermelon slices as well as traditional cupcakes. He pressed (and kicked and head-butted) buttons to make frosting and sprinkles descend. He ate a few of the cupcakes, but there were plenty left for later.



And what’s a party without music? In the next screen, Ted got to jam some jams (as the cool kids say...I think). I’m not sure whether he was practicing for the party, or if the party had already started, but who cares? Either way, jams were jammed.

Finally, it was definitely party time. There were confetti-releasing buttons to hit! There were balloons to pop (or just admire, if one was so inclined, but who are we kidding?). Best of all, there were piñatas to wallop.



At the very end, the app took a picture of Ted for posterity. And there you have it! Robot Party didn’t have a Specific Educational Mission, but it was a lot of fun, and encouraged creativity no matter how silly. Because sometimes, you just need to give your partying robot a sock hand.

Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch (requires iOS 6.0 or later); $2.99. Recommended for preschool and primary users.